The present invention relates to a device for connecting an upholstery strengthening rod to a seat load-boarding structure, in particular, a vehicle seat. Here and in the following description, the term "upholstery strengthening rod" is used to indicate a rod, usually consisting of a drawn metal rod, engaged, e.g. sewn or fitted, on the inner side of the upholstery on the rear of the seatback, inside a sleeve formed from the sheet material used for the upholstery. This rod is designed to fit at either end into respective seats formed on the seat load-bearing structure, so as to secure the upholstery to the load-bearing structure and stretch the upholstery in relation to padding placed between the upholstery and the load-bearing structure. Those skilled in the art and specialists in vehicle seats will however, already be familiar with the term.
Securing an upholstery strengthening rod to the load-bearing structure on a vehicle seat is known to be a lengthy, painstaking job. Normally the fitter must first fit part of the upholstery on to the seatback, so as to bring the strengthening rod up to the connecting seats formed beforehand on the load-bearing structure. Then, keeping the rest of the upholstery rolled up, he must insert the opposite ends of the strengthening rod into their respective seats and then finish fitting the upholstery on to the rest of the seat. As the ends of the strengthening rod are slid into their respective seats, i.e. by first inserting the ends into relatively large apertures formed close to the seats into which the ends of the strengthening rod are then slid, clearly, during the final upholstering stage, the strengthening rod may slip out of its seat, thus making it necessary for the fitter to repeat the upholstering and fitting operation all over again. Furthermore, actual insertion of the strengthening rod is made awkward since visibility is impaired by the rolled-up upholstery and due to the fact that the fitter may be forced to pull on the upholstery for fitting the strengthening rod inside its connecting seats.